Aircraft propulsion unit

ABSTRACT

An aircraft propulsion unit includes an electric motor, at least one accessory unit used for operating the electric motor, an inverter module, the inverter module including a plurality of inverters for powering the electric motor and the at least one accessory unit, and a cooling system coupled to the electric motor and the inverter module, the cooling system comprising a coolant path for circulating a coolant through or adjacent to the electric motor and the at least one accessory unit.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/650,458 filed on Feb. 9, 2022, which claims the benefit of U.S.Application Ser. No. 63/147,560 filed on Feb. 9, 2021, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference as if explicitly set forth.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the aviation field, and morespecifically to the packaging or cooling of an aircraft propulsionsystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an aircraft according to some examples.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an aircraft energy system for use in theaircraft of FIG. 1 , according to some examples.

FIG. 3 illustrates part of an aircraft propulsion system 300 for use inthe aircraft 100 of FIG. 1 , according to some examples.

FIG. 4 further illustrates part of an aircraft propulsion system of FIG.3 according to some examples.

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial cross section through the aircraftpropulsion system of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 according to some examples.

FIG. 6 shows an inverter board used in an aircraft propulsion systemaccording to some examples.

FIG. 7 illustrates the thermal interface between thermal coins of theinverter board of FIG. 6 and a cold plate according to some examples.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of the aircraft propulsion systemof FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 according to some examples.

FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C illustrate the tilting of an aircraftpropulsion system and related components such as a propeller and nacelleaccording to some examples.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C illustrate the tilting of an aircraftpropulsion system and related components such as a propeller and nacelleaccording to some examples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of some examples of the invention is notintended to limit the invention to these examples, but rather to enableany person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an aircraft 100. The aircraft 100 includes afuselage 114, two wings 112, an empennage 110 and propulsion systems 108embodied as tiltable rotor assemblies 116 located in nacelles 118. Theaircraft 100 includes one or more power sources embodied in FIG. 1 asnacelle battery packs 104 and wing battery packs 106. In the illustratedexample, the nacelle battery packs 104 are located in inboard nacelles102, but of course it will be appreciated that the nacelle battery packs104 could be located in other nacelles 118 forming part of the aircraft100. The battery packs form part of the energy system 200 described withreference to FIG. 2 . The aircraft 100 will typically include associatedequipment such as an electronic infrastructure, control surfaces, acooling system, landing gear and so forth.

The wings 112 function to generate lift to support the aircraft 100during forward flight. The wings 112 can additionally or alternatelyfunction to structurally support the battery packs 202, battery module204 and/or propulsion systems 108 under the influence of variousstructural stresses (e.g., aerodynamic forces, gravitational forces,propulsive forces, external point loads, distributed loads, and/or bodyforces, etc.). The wings 112 can have any suitable geometry and/orarrangement on the aircraft.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an aircraft energy system 200 for use inthe aircraft 100 of FIG. 1 , according to some examples. As shown, theenergy system 200 includes one or more battery packs 202. Each batterypack 202 may include one or more battery modules 204, which in turn maycomprise a number of cells 206.

Typically associated with a battery pack 202 are one or more electricpropulsion systems 108, a battery mate 208 for connecting it to othercomponents in energy system 200, a burst membrane 210 as part of aventing system, a fluid circulation system 212 for cooling, and powerelectronics 214 for regulating delivery of electrical power (from thebattery during operation and to the battery during charging) and toprovide integration of the battery pack 202 with the electronicinfrastructure of the energy system 200. As shown in FIG. 1 , thepropulsion systems 108 may comprise a plurality of rotor assemblies.

The electronic infrastructure and the power electronics 214 canadditionally or alternately function to integrate the battery packs 202into the energy system of the aircraft. The electronic infrastructurecan include a Battery Management System (BMS), power electronics (HVarchitecture, power components, etc.), LV architecture (e.g., vehiclewire harness, data connections, etc.), and/or any other suitablecomponents. The electronic infrastructure can include inter-moduleelectrical connections, which can transmit power and/or data betweenbattery packs and/or modules. Inter-modules can include bulkheadconnections, bus bars, wire harnessing, and/or any other suitablecomponents.

The battery packs 202 function to store electrochemical energy in arechargeable manner for supply to the propulsion systems 108. Batterypacks 202 can be arranged and/or distributed about the aircraft in anysuitable manner. Battery packs can be arranged within wings (e.g.,inside of an airfoil cavity), inside nacelles, and/or in any othersuitable location on the aircraft. In a specific example, the systemincludes a first battery pack within an inboard portion of a left wingand a second battery pack within an inboard portion of a right wing. Ina second specific example, the system includes a first battery packwithin an inboard nacelle of a left wing and a second battery packwithin an inboard nacelle of a right wing. Battery packs 202 may includea plurality of battery modules 204.

The energy system 200 includes a cooling system (e.g. fluid circulationsystem 212) that functions to circulate a working fluid within thebattery pack 202 to remove heat generated by the battery pack 202 duringoperation or charging. Battery cells 206, battery module 204 and/orbattery packs 202 can be fluidly connected by the cooling system inseries and/or parallel in any suitable manner.

FIG. 3 illustrates part of an aircraft propulsion system 300 for use inthe aircraft 100 of FIG. 1 , according to some examples. The aircraftpropulsion system 300 includes a motor 302 and one or more accessoryunits used in conjunction with the motor 302 for operation of theaircraft propulsion system 300, the accessory units may for exampleinclude a blade pitching mechanism 304, a tilt mechanism 306, and aninverter system 308. More particularly, shown in FIG. 3 is a crosssection through one half of the inverter system 308—see further FIG. 4for a cross section through both halves of the inverter system 308.

The accessory units or systems used in conjunction with operation of theaircraft propulsion system 300 can also include a radiator 310, a fan312, a pump 314, and an accumulator 316, which together form a coolingsystem for the aircraft propulsion system 300. The cooling systemcomponents are connected to each other and to a number of cold plates322 via a coolant path 320.

The inverter system 308 includes an inverter board 324, a control board326 and a motor inverter board 340 mounted within an inverter housing318. The motor inverter board 340 including an inverter 350 forsupplying electrical power to the motor 302. The inverter board 324includes a plurality of inverters, for example an inverter 334 coupledto the blade pitching mechanism 304 by an electrical connection 348, aninverter 336 coupled to the tilt mechanism 306 by an electricalconnection 342, and an inverter 338 coupled to the integrated pump 314and fan 312 by an electrical connection 344. The motor 302 is coupled tothe inverter 350 by an electrical connection 346.

The inverter system 308 functions to condition power supplied to themotor 302, blade pitching mechanism 304, tilt mechanism 306, fan 312,pump 314 to control their operation. More specifically, the invertersystem 308 functions to control the frequency and/or voltage of powersupplied to, in some examples, alternating current (AC) motors in eachaccessory unit, to control the rotational speed, displacement and/ortorque of the particular accessory unit.

In some examples, the motor 302 is connected to a rotor 120 of theaircraft 100 or is integrated into the hub of a rotor 120. The motor 302can be an in-runner motor, outrunner motor, and/or any other suitabletype of motor. Preferably, the motor 302 is a large diameter motorand/or a motor designed and configured (such as with gearing) to providehigh-torque and low-speed for the propeller. The motor 302 can have anysuitable power capabilities and/or requirements. Preferably, the motor302 is a 3-phase motor, and more preferably is wound as two independent3-phase motors for redundancy and performance. The motor 302 can have apower threshold (e.g., peak power, maximum continuous power, nominalpower, max power of individual set of windings of dual-wound motor,etc.) of: less than 8 okW, 500 kW, greater than 500 kW, any rangebounded by the aforementioned values, and/or any other suitable powercharacteristics. In a specific example, the motor 302 can turn the rotor120 at a top speed of: less than 100 RPM, 100 RPM, less than 5000 RPM,5000 RPM, greater than 5000 RPM, any range bounded by the aforementionedvalues, and/or any appropriate speed, and can operate with a maximumtorque of: less than 10 N-m, 50 N-m, 5000 N-m, greater than 5000 N-m,any range bounded by the aforementioned values, and/or any appropriatemaximum torque.

The inverter 336 is configured to supply conditioned power to the tiltmechanism 306, which functions to pivot and/or translate the motor 302between a forward configuration and a hover or vertical flightconfiguration in some examples. The tilt mechanism 306 can connect to arear/inboard portion of the motor 302 (and/or an inverter mountedthereto) or a forward/inboard portion of the motor 302 and couples themotor 302 to the airframe of the aircraft as shown in more detail inFIGS. 9A to 9C and FIGS. 10A to 10C.

The inverter housing 318 functions to enclose and/or structurallysupport the control board 326, inverter board 324 and inverter board340. The inverter housing 318 can additionally or alternatively functionto form a portion of the cooling system, can mount a pump 314 and/or fan312 of the cooling subsystem, function as an EMI shield, and/or performother functionalities. The inverter housing 318 is preferably configuredto nest within and/or mount to a portion (e.g., rearward portion in aforward configuration) of the motor 302, but can be otherwiseconfigured.

The inverter housing 318 can include integrated elements that functionas part of the cooling subsystem and/or function to transfer thermalenergy from the inverter housing 318 to a working fluid (such as air ora liquid coolant). The inverter housing 318 can include an integratedcold plate 322 that closes out a base and/or broad face of the inverterhousing 318. The inverter housing 318 can also include thermal coolingfins 332 extending from a periphery of the inverter housing 318. In someexamples as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , a baseplate of the inverterhousing 318 includes a cold plate 322 having a set of internal coolingchannels and a plurality of cooling fins 332 at a rearward portion ofthe inverter housing 318 exterior (e.g., rearwardly-facing when theaircraft propulsion system 300 is in the forward configuration).

The control board 326 functions to receive commands (e.g., from a flightprocessor or FMS) and control operation of the inverter boards based onthe received commands. The control board 326 can additionally functionto monitor various sensors and/or control the various accessory units oractuators based on sensor feedback, and interface with the onboardflight management system (FMS). The control board 326 can be configuredto provide field-oriented control (FOC) or vector control, but canadditionally or alternatively be configured to provide direct torquecontrol (DTC), scalar control (e.g., by pulse-width modulation; for alow-power actuator such as a fan; etc.), and/or be configured to provideany suitable control for any suitable actuators. There is preferably onecontrol board 326 arranged within each distinct coolant volume and/orsubregion of the inverter housing 318, which is electrically connectedto and/or controls each inverter within the respective coolant volume(subregion) of the inverter housing 318. However, there can additionallyor alternatively be a single control board 326 connected to and/orcontrolling all inverters within the inverter housing, or more than onecontrol board within each coolant volume. The control board 326 ispreferably a printed circuit board (PCB), but can be otherwise suitablyimplemented. The control board can include: a processor card and gatedrive circuitry; however, the control board can additionally oralternatively include any other suitable components.

The inverter board 324 and the inverter board 340 function to conditionpower supplied to actuators such as the motor 302, blade pitchingmechanism 304, tilt mechanism 306, fan 312, pump 314 to control theiractuation according to the signals from the control board 326. Morespecifically, the inverter boards convert DC power (e.g., from anonboard power source, such a battery pack 202) into phased outputs of aspecific frequency and/or voltage (e.g., to be supplied to AC actuatorsto control the rotational speed and/or torque). The inverter boards eachinclude one or more inverter circuits (hereinafter “inverters”),associated with a set of windings of a respective actuator of the set.The inverters include any suitable arrangement, combination, and/orpermutation of transformers, resistors, transistors (e.g., MOSFETs),capacitors (e.g., decoupling DC-link capacitors), and/or any othersuitable electrical components interconnected to form an electricalcircuit specified according to the power requirements of the respectiveactuator.

The set of inverter boards preferably includes a primary (e.g.,high-power) inverter board 340 including the inverter circuitry for thehighest power actuator of the actuator set (e.g., motor 302) and asecondary (e.g., low-power) inverter board 324 including the invertersfor the remaining actuators of the actuator set. The power requirementsfor the high-power inverter board 340 (and the associated highest poweractuator) can exceed the collective power requirements of the remainingactuators of the actuator set, such that the maximum power output of theprimary inverter board 340 is greater than a maximum power output of thesecondary inverter board 324 (e.g., by less than 0.5, 3, 5, greater than5, any proportion therebetween, and/or any other suitable value).However, the inverter boards can additionally or alternatively include asingle board housing all inverters, a plurality of secondary (low-power)boards, and/or inverters can be otherwise distributed between anysuitable set of inverter boards.

The inverter board 324, inverter board 340 and the control board 326 arepreferably arranged in a ‘stacked’ configuration, but can be otherwisesuitably arranged parallel to the broad face(s)/baseplate of theinverter housing, normal to the motor's rotational axis 408,perpendicular to the firewall 410, and/or otherwise suitably arranged.The control board 326 is preferably arranged between the primaryinverter board 340 and the secondary inverter board 324, but canadditionally or alternatively be arranged opposite the primary inverterboard 340 across a thickness of the secondary inverter board 324, and/orotherwise suitably arranged. The set of inverter boards and/or controlboards can be distributed in any suitable manner. Low-voltage powerand/or data—such as sensor and control signals—can be routed between thecontrol board and the inverter boards using flexible printed circuits.Conversely, power connections between the inverters and the actuatorsare preferably formed by bus bar connections and/or rigid electricalconnections (e.g., orthogonal to the broad faces of the stacked boards).However, power and/or data connections can be otherwise suitably routedbetween the inverter and/or control boards.

Coupled to the inverter board 340 are DC link capacitors 328. The DClink capacitors 328 form a load-balancing energy storage device, whichhelps protect the inverter network from momentary voltage spikes, surgesand EMI. DC link capacitors 328 capacitors can be ceramic, film, and/ora mixture thereof. The DC link capacitors 328 can be arranged along arearward side of the inverter board 340 and/or adjacent to a baseplateof the inverter housing 318. In a second example, DC link capacitors 328can be arranged distal the firewall and/or along a periphery of theinverter. The DC link capacitors 328 may be enclosed inthermally-conductive epoxy 330, which serves to transfer heat from theDC link capacitors 328 to the cooling fins 332 and cold plate 322.

The cold plates 322 and cold plates 352 function to remove thermalenergy from heat =-generating components of the control board 326 and/orinverter board 324 and inverter board 340, as well as the DC linkcapacitors 328. The aircraft propulsion system 300 can include separatecold plates arranged within each distinct coolant volume of the housing(e.g., one on each side of the firewall 410 as shown in FIG. 4 ) andpaired with (thermally coupled to) a single multi-inverter and/or coldplates thermally coupled to a plurality of multi-inverters. Amulti-inverter is a single inverter that conditions power for multipleactuators. There can be a single cold plate thermally within eachmulti-inverter, multiple cold plates within each multi-inverter, asingle cold plate thermally coupled to a plurality of multi-inverters,and/or any suitable number of cold plates within the system.

In some examples, the set of cold plates includes a primary cold plate322 that is thermally coupled to a heat generating region of the primaryinverter board 340, and one or more secondary cold plates 352 that arethermally coupled to the control board 326 and/or secondary inverterboard 324. In a first example, the primary cold plate 322 is arrangedbetween the primary inverter board 340 and the inverter housing 318(and/or integrated into the inverter housing 318). In a second example,the one or more secondary cold plates 352 are arranged between andthermally coupled to the secondary inverter board 324 and control board326 (e.g., the processor card). In the second example, the projectedareas of each heat generating region (from the secondary inverter board324 and control board 326) onto a broad face of the one or moresecondary cold plates 352 can be non-overlapping or overlapping.However, the secondary one or more secondary cold plates 352 can beotherwise arranged relative to the control board 326 and/or processingboards (and heat generating regions thereon). In some examples, coldplates can be integrated into the body of the inverter housing 318and/or form a baseplate of the inverter housing 318 that closes out thedistinct coolant volumes (e.g., at a rear end). In such examples, asingle cold plate can include an interior volume which extends acrossthe heat generating regions and/or broad face of an inverter board(and/or control board) of a plurality of multi-inverters and isthermally connected to both multi-inverters. In such examples, the coldplate can cool redundant multi-inverters via parallel coolant flowpaths, but can additionally or alternatively cool the multi-inverters inany suitable combination/permutation of series and parallel coolantflows. Alternatively, a single cold plate can be thermally connected toa plurality of multi-inverters with a plurality of fluid channels (e.g.,mechanically isolated, forming parallel coolant flow paths).

Coolant routing components forming the coolant path 320 function todirect circulation of coolant (e.g., water/glycol mixture, transformeroils, etc.) through or adjacent to or around the cold plate 322 and coldplates 352 and to connect the cold plates to a remainder of the coolingsystem (i.e. forming a cooling loop). Coolant routing components caninclude any fluid manifolds, hoses, tubes, pipes, channels within thehousing of the inverter, channels within the body of the motor, and/orany other suitable coolant routing components. Preferably, the coolantpath 320 fluidly connects the primary cold plate 322 to the secondarycold plates 322 in series (e.g., within a multi-inverter/within asubregion). The coolant path 320 can form a single fluid loop (e.g., allcomponents in series, multiple sections of parallel fluid flow allconverging to pass through a section of the loop, etc.) or multiple,parallel fluid loops. However, the coolant path 320 can interconnect thevarious cooling components of the cooling system in any suitablecombination and/or permutation of series/parallel coolant flow. Coolantrouting components can pass through orifices in the thickness of theinverter boards (e.g., via a fluid manifold or other fluid routing)and/or be routed around the boards. Coolant routing components caninclude a first coolant routing termination at a rearward end of theinverter housing 318 (e.g., proximal the mounting side, proximal thepump/radiator; coolant inlet) and a second coolant routing termination(e.g., outlet) at a forward end of the inverter housing 318. The secondcoolant routing termination is preferably connected to the motor 302 andthe first coolant routing termination is preferably connected to thepump 314, however the coolant path 320 can otherwise interconnect thevarious components of the cooling system.

The coolant path 320 components can optionally direct coolant flowthrough a radiator 310, which functions to reject heat from the coolantto the ambient environment. In some examples, the radiator 310 can abutand/or nest adjacent to the tilt mechanism 306 such that externalairflow through the radiator 310 (e.g., ducted flow by way of the fan312) is partially and/or fully obstructed (e.g., in the direction offlow, lengthwise along the motor's rotational axis 408, etc.) in one ormore configurations of the tilt mechanism 306. In particular, tightlynesting the radiator 310 and the tilt mechanism 306 and/or directlyobstructing the airflow through the radiator 310 can increase packagingdensity and aerodynamic efficiency during forward flight, where thepower requirements of the motor 302 and inverter board 340 are reduced(and, by extension, the necessary heat rejection from the aircraftpropulsion system 300). Likewise, displacing the radiator 310 with themotor 302 and inverter housing 318 during transformation of the tiltmechanism 306 during transition and/or in hover configurations canincrease the airflow and/or thermal rejection achieved by the radiator310 when the thermal loads are greatest as a result of power and/or heatrejection requirements being largest. See further FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C andFIG. 10A to FIG. 10C. In such cases, the heat rejection during hover orvertical flight can be effectively doubled by the radiator 310 movingwith the motor 302 to increase airflow through the radiator 310.However, the system can include any other suitable radiator 310 and/orotherwise suitably route coolant through a radiator 310. Alternatively,the system can reject heat by way of a refrigeration system and/or othersub-ambient cooling architecture.

In some examples, coolant routing components can fully fluidly encloseand contain coolant, without pressure exchange with the environment. Insuch examples, coolant routing components can direct coolant through anaccumulator 316, which can regulate the fluid pressure and preventover-pressurization. Alternatively, the coolant path 320 can includepassive coolant venting to the ambient environment and/or any othersuitable pressure equilibration mechanisms to prevent gas buildup withinthe cooling subsystem.

The pump 314 functions to circulate coolant along the coolant path 320and through the coolant routing components, cold plates, and/oractuator(s). The pump 314 can additionally or alternately function totransport coolant from the motor 302 and/or cold plates 322 to theradiator 310.

The fan 312 functions to circulate ambient air across the cooling fins332 of the inverter housing 318 and/or through the radiator 310. In someexamples, the fan 312 can be mechanically connected to a rotating shaftof the pump 314 and/or otherwise mechanically integrated with or intothe pump 314. The fan 312 can be directly tied to the pump 314 andconfigured to rotate at an angular rate proportional to that of the pumpshaft (e.g., equivalent angular rate when ungeared). The fan 312 can beducted and/or non-ducted and/or otherwise suitably implemented.Additionally or alternatively, the fan 312 can be separate from the pump314 (e.g., integrated into a radiator assembly, etc.), and/or separatelypowered.

The aircraft propulsion system 300 can optionally include sensors thatfunction to monitor the operation of the system. Sensors can include:temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors, thermocouples, etc.), inertialsensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, IMUs, etc.), impedancesensors, hall-effect sensors, flow sensors (e.g., flow rate sensors,fluid pressure sensors, etc.), and/or any other suitable sensors. Insome examples, temperature sensors can be used to monitor thetemperature of motor windings, bearings, coolant, and/or any othersuitable components. In some examples, flow sensors can monitor coolantpressure and/or flow rate in the coolant subsystem. However, the systemcan include any other suitable sensors. Sensors are preferablycommunicatively connected to the control board 326 and can be employedin conjunction with various actuation control schemes (e.g.,feed-forward, feedback, etc.). However, in some examples it can beadvantageous for sensor inputs to be received at an outboard inverterboard (e.g., leading inverter board 324 of the stack in the forwardconfiguration; secondary/triple-inverter board). In such some examples,sensor inputs can be received at a section of the inverter board 324that is electrically isolated from the inverters and relayed to thecontrol board 326 (or FMS). Accordingly, the control board 326 can beconsidered to be ‘indirectly’ connected to various sensors of theaircraft propulsion system 300 and/or indirectly connected by way of aninverter board 324.

Coolant routing is preferably provided with a substantially uniform(e.g., varying by less than 10%, 20%, 50%, exactly uniform, etc.) and/orconstant cross-sectional area across various portions of the coolantflow path. Coolant is preferably circulated through the coolant routingcomponents at a high flow rate (e.g., such that coolant temperature risethrough the motor can be neglected in some cases; where coolanttemperature rises less than 5 deg C through the motor 302 and/orinverter housing 318; etc.).

In some examples, coolant in the coolant path 320 from the radiator 310enters the motor 302 at the stator 404 and passes through or betweenfield coils in the stator 404, and then through the electrical bussing406. The coolant in the coolant path 320 then proceeds into the inverterhousing 318 and through the cold plates 352 and cold plates 322 beforereturning to the pump 314, and from there back to the radiator 310. Thecoolant path thus provides an integrated cooling system that not onlycools the motor 302 but also the inverters for a plurality of theactuators associated with the aircraft 100. The direction of flow andthe sequence of components in the cooling path can of course be variedor reversed.

By packaging the inverters outboard of an actuation mechanism (e.g.,tilt mechanism 906), the complexity of cable routing to actuatorsoutboard of the actuation mechanism (e.g., pump/fan, motor, blade pitchmechanism, etc.) can be reduced.

FIG. 4 further illustrates part of an aircraft propulsion system 300 ofFIG. 3 according to some examples. More particularly, shown in FIG. 4 isa cross section through both halves of the inverter system 308 shown inFIG. 3 . In some examples, the inverter housing 318 is configured toextend within a radial interior of the motor 302, with the stator 404and/or rotor 402 of the motor 302 arranged radially outward (relative tothe motor's rotational axis 408) of a portion of the inverter housing318. In such examples, the inverter housing 318 can extend radiallyinward of a plurality of permanent magnets or the stator 404 of themotor 302. An outer periphery of the inverter housing 318 can bearranged flush with a radial inner periphery of the motor 302 and/orinset from the radial periphery of the motor 302, but can be otherwisesuitably configured. More preferably, the inverter housing 318 can beradially inset from the electrical bussing 406 of the motor 302 (e.g.,bus rings) and/or circumscribed by the housing of the stator 404.However, the inverter housing 318 can be otherwise suitably arrangedrelative to the motor. The inverter housing 318 can include electricalbus terminals, coolant channels/orifices, thermal fins, and/or any othersuitable features in any suitable arrangement. The inverter housing 318is preferably formed from a metal with high thermal conductivity (e.g.,aluminum), but can additionally or alternatively include thermalinsulation, electrical isolation, plastics, composites, ferrous metals(e.g., iron), steel, copper, and/or any other suitable materials.

The inverter housing 318 can include a firewall 410, which functions tosubdivide an interior of the inverter housing into a plurality (e.g.,two) of distinct coolant volumes (e.g., fluidly isolated first volume412 and second volume 414) and/or to prevent propagation of thermalevents between opposing portions of the interior of the inverter housing318 (e.g., between redundant or secondary isolated volumes within thehousing). The firewall 410 preferably extends through an interior of theinverter housing 318 between the broad upper and lower faces (e.g.,perpendicular to the upper and lower faces of the inverter housing 318shown in FIG. 4 ), however it can be otherwise suitably arranged). Thefirewall 410 can be arranged along a sagittal plane relative to themotor's rotational axis 408 and/or extend axially and radially relativeto the rotational axis 408, but can additionally or alternatively beotherwise suitably arranged. The coolant volumes defined by the firewall410 within the inverter housing 318 are preferably symmetric and/or ofsubstantially equal volume, but the firewall 410 can otherwise suitablydivide the inverter housing. The firewall 410 can be formed from thesame material as the housing exterior (e.g., aluminum, steel, etc.)and/or any other suitable materials.

The inverter system 308 can include redundant instance(s) of the controlboard 326 and/or the inverter board 324 and inverter board 340, eachassociated with a distinct coolant volume. However, electronics can alsobe shared across distinct coolant volumes of the inverter housing 318.The electronics within a common distinct coolant volume are preferablyconnected together and cooperatively form a single inverter (e.g., amulti-inverter conditioning power for multiple actuators), but canalternatively be disconnected or otherwise configured. Accordingly,where the set inverter boards can be taken as a ‘multi-inverter’ (e.g.,quad inverter) which can separately actuate each the set of actuators,the housing can include a plurality of said multi-inverters, which canbe thermally, mechanically, and/or electrically isolated on opposingsides of the firewall 410. In a specific example, the firewall cansubdivide the inverter housing into two distinct portions, such as firstvolume 412 and second volume 414, each volume including a control board326 and two inverter boards, inverter board 324 and inverter board 340,which cooperatively form a quad inverter. In some examples, the two quadinverters can cooperatively and/or independently actuate a set of fouractuators. Accordingly, the inverter housing 318 may include two(redundant) quad inverters for a total of eight inverters commonlypackaged within (and/or cooled by) the inverter housing 318.

Examples of this technology can thus provide dual redundancy within asingle inverter system and/or within a single inverter housing 318 whencoupled with two independent 3 phase motors mechanically coupledtogether within a single electric propulsion system. Such examples canutilize dual wound actuators, duplicative inverter and/or controlboards, separate cooling components, and/or provide any other suitableredundancies. Such examples can likewise subdivide the inverter housing318 into distinct coolant volumes (e.g., using a firewall 410) tomitigate the propagation of any thermal events between redundantinverters.

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial cross section through the aircraftpropulsion system 300 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 according to some examples.In particular and as discussed above with reference to FIG. 4 , theinverter housing 318 is nested within a radial interior of the motor302, with the stator 404 and/or rotor 402 of the motor 302 arrangedradially outward (relative to the motor's rotational axis 408) of aportion of the inverter housing 318. Also shown in FIG. 5 are thecooling fins 332 for the DC link capacitors 328, an integrated pump/fan502, the radiator 310 and some of the conduits forming the coolant path320.

This configuration provides high power-density inverter packaging, byefficiently routing power and/or cooling through the inverter/controlboards. In some examples, the system improves the packaging efficiencyof a brushless DC motor (e.g., inverter packaged within a motor) bypackaging one or more inverter boards within an interior of the statorand/or rotor. Likewise, this configuration can improve power density bytightly integrating the cooling subsystem within or partly within themotor 302 and/or inverter housing 318.

FIG. 6 shows an inverter board 604 used in the aircraft propulsionsystem 300 according to some examples. The inverter board 604 includes aplurality of heat-generating components 602. In some examples, these areSiC switches that comprise the inverter 334, the inverter 336 andinverter 338 on inverter board 324. The heat-generating components 602of the inverter board 604 can be arranged opposite a cold plate(s)across a thickness of the inverter board 604, In such instances, theinverter board 604 can include heat transfer paths comprising thermalcoins 606 of high conductivity materials, located at the base of heatgenerating heat-generating components 602 (and/or distributed about heatgenerating regions), which extend through the inverter board 604 andthermally connect one or more heat-generating components 602 to one ormore cold plates such as cold plates 322.

The thermal coins 606 function to decrease the thermal resistancethrough the thickness of the board. Thermal coins 606 are preferablyformed from high thermal conductivity materials, such as: copper,aluminum, and/or other high thermal conductivity materials, and arepreferably electrically isolated from the circuitry of the inverterboard 604 to avoid shorting the board. In one example, the thermal coins606 can include integrated electrically insulating layers, such as aceramic layer or other electrically insulating layer (e.g., with lowerthermal conductivity than the remainder of the material, with lowerthermal conductivity than the board, etc.)—an example of which is shownin FIG. 7 . In a second example, the thermal coins 606 can beelectrically isolated with an electrically insulated coating or seal ata periphery (e.g., between an electrical component and the exposedportion of a thermal coin, between a cold plate and a thermal coin,etc.).

In some examples, the inverter board 604 can include insulation layer(s)configured to thermally insulate a component/region of an inverter boardfrom a cold plate (e.g., thermally coupled to a differentheat-generating region of the same inverter board). In one example, filmcapacitors are thermally insulated from the cold plate, and are cooledto ambient air, while ceramic capacitors are cooled using a liquidcoolant. This can allow heat generating components with large coolingrequirements such as MOSFETs (which can be capable of sustaining hightemperatures well above ambient) to be separately cooled using a liquidcoolant. Thermal insulation between DC-link film capacitors and the coldplate/baseplate of the housing can have a thermal conductivity that isless than the thermal conductivity of an air gap (of equivalentthickness), greater than the thermal conductivity of an air gap, and/orcan have any other suitable thermal properties.

FIG. 7 illustrates the thermal interface between thermal coins 606 ofthe inverter board of FIG. 6 and a cold plate 322 according to someexamples. A fluid channel 702 is provided adjacent to the cold plate322, which is supplied with coolant via the coolant path 320. Athermally conductive layer 706 is provided between the thermal coins 606and the cooling cold plate 322. A layer of electrical isolation 704 isprovided to electrically isolate the thermal coins 606 from the coldplate 322 and from each other. In other examples, the thermal coins 606can be mounted to the electrical isolation 704, which in turn is mountedto the cold plate 322

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of the aircraft propulsion system300 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 according to some examples. FIG. 8 shows therelative positioning of the motor 302, the fan 312 and the radiator 310,as well as some of the piping forming part of the coolant path 320.

FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C illustrate the tilting of the aircraftpropulsion system 300 and related components such as the propeller 902and nacelle 904 according to some examples. The aircraft is preferablyan eVTOL airplane (e.g., a multi-modal aircraft) as illustrated, but canadditionally or alternatively include any suitable aircraft. Theaircraft 100 is preferably a tiltrotor aircraft with a plurality ofaircraft propulsion systems that are operable between a forwardarrangement (FIG. 9A, and FIG. 10A) and a hover or vertical flightarrangement (FIG. 9C and FIG. 10C). However, the aircraft canalternatively be a fixed wing aircraft with one or more rotor assembliesor propulsion systems, a helicopter with one or more rotor assemblies(e.g., wherein at least one rotor assembly or aircraft propulsion systemis oriented substantially axially to provide horizontal thrust), atiltwing aircraft, a wingless aircraft (e.g., a helicopter,multi-copter, quadcopter), and/or any other suitable rotorcraft orvehicle propelled by propellers or rotors.

As shown in FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C, in one example a nacelle 904 includingthe aircraft propulsion system 300 (identified are the motor 302, theinverter system 308 and radiator 310) and a propeller 902 with ablade-pitching mechanism 908 are tilted relative to the rest of theaircraft 100 by a tilt mechanism 906 located towards the rear of thenacelle 904.

When integrated into a propulsion tilt mechanism in an aircraftconfigurable between a forward configuration and a hover configuration,cooling subsystems can advantageously utilize an increase in availableairflow in a hover configuration as discussed below.

FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C illustrate the tilting of the aircraftpropulsion system 300 and related components such as the propeller 902relative to a nacelle 1004 according to some examples. As can be seen inFIG. 10B and FIG. 10C, in this example the aircraft propulsion system300 (identified are the motor 302, the inverter system 308 and radiator310) and a propeller 1002 with a blade-pitching mechanism 1008 aretilted relative to the nacelle 1004 by a tilt mechanism 1006 locatedtowards the front of the nacelle 1004.

As can be seen in FIG. 10C, which is a hovering configuration, theradiator 310 is exposed to the open air as opposed to being containedwithin the nacelle 1004 as in the vertical configuration. This resultsin more airflow through the radiator 310 both from the fan 312 and as aresult of adjacent airflow from the propeller 902. Since hovering has ahigher power requirement than level flight, the additional coolingprovided by the increased airflow through the radiator 310 can beadvantageous.

Embodiments of the system and/or method can include every combinationand permutation of the various system components and the various methodprocesses, wherein one or more instances of the method and/or processesdescribed herein can be performed asynchronously (e.g., sequentially),concurrently (e.g., in parallel), or in any other suitable order byand/or using one or more instances of the systems, elements, and/orentities described herein.

The term “rotor” as utilized herein when referring to athrust-generating element, can refer to a rotor, a propeller, and/or anyother suitable rotary aerodynamic actuator. While a rotor can refer to arotary aerodynamic actuator that makes use of an articulated orsemi-rigid hub (e.g., wherein the connection of the blades to the hubcan be articulated, flexible, rigid, and/or otherwise connected), and apropeller can refer to a rotary aerodynamic actuator that makes use of arigid hub (e.g., wherein the connection of the blades to the hub can bearticulated, flexible, rigid, and/or otherwise connected), no suchdistinction is explicit or implied when used herein, and the usage of“rotor” can refer to either configuration, and any other suitableconfiguration of articulated or rigid blades, and/or any other suitableconfiguration of blade connections to a central member or hub. Likewise,the usage of “propeller” can refer to either configuration, and anyother suitable configuration of articulated or rigid blades, and/or anyother suitable configuration of blade connections to a central member orhub. Accordingly, the tiltrotor aircraft can be referred to as atilt-propeller aircraft, a tilt-prop aircraft, and/or otherwise suitablyreferred to or described.

The term “board” as utilized herein, in reference to the control board,inverter board, or otherwise, preferably refers to a circuit board. Morepreferably, “board” refers to a printed circuit board (PCB) and/orelectronic components assembled thereon, which can collectively form aprinted circuit board assembly (PCBA). In a first example, the controlboard is a PCBA. In a second example, each inverter board is a PCBA.However, “board” can additionally or alternatively refer to a singlesided PCB, double sided PCB, multi-layer PCB, rigid PCB, flexible PCB,and/or can have any other suitable meaning.

The aircraft can include any suitable form of power storage or powerstorage unit (battery, flywheel, ultra-capacitor, battery, fuel tank,etc.) which powers the actuator(s) (e.g., rotor/propeller, tiltmechanism, blade pitch mechanism, cooling systems, etc.). The preferredpower/fuel source is a battery, however the system could reasonably beemployed with any suitable power/fuel source. The aircraft can includeauxiliary and/or redundant power sources (e.g., backup batteries,multiple batteries) or exclude redundant power sources. The aircraft canemploy batteries with any suitable cell chemistries (e.g., Li-ion,nickel cadmium, etc.) in any suitable electrical architecture orconfiguration (e.g., multiple packs, bricks, modules, cells, etc.; inany combination of series and/or parallel architecture).

In a specific example, the system integrated into an electric tiltrotoraircraft including a plurality of tiltable rotor assemblies (e.g., sixtiltable rotor assemblies). The electric tiltrotor aircraft can operateas a fixed wing aircraft, a rotary-wing aircraft, and in any liminalconfiguration between a fixed and rotary wing state (e.g., wherein oneor more of the plurality of tiltable rotor assemblies is oriented in apartially rotated state). The control system of the electric tiltrotoraircraft in this example can function to command and control theplurality of tiltable rotor assemblies within and/or between the fixedwing arrangement and the rotary-wing arrangement.

The term “substantially” as utilized herein can mean: exactly,approximately, within a predetermined threshold or tolerance, and/orhave any other suitable meaning.

Alternative embodiments implement the above methods and/or processingmodules m non-transitory computer-readable media, storingcomputer-readable instructions. The instructions can be executed bycomputer-executable components integrated with the computer-readablemedium and/or processing system. The computer-readable medium mayinclude any suitable computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flashmemory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppydrives, non-transitory computer readable media, or any suitable device.The computer-executable component can include a computing system and/orprocessing system (e.g., including one or more collocated ordistributed, remote or local processors) connected to the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, such as CPUs, GPUs, TPUS, microprocessors, orASICs, but the instructions can alternatively or additionally beexecuted by any suitable dedicated hardware device.

Embodiments of the system and/or method can include every combinationand permutation of the various system components and the various methodprocesses, wherein one or more instances of the method and/or processesdescribed herein can be performed asynchronously (e.g., sequentially),concurrently (e.g., in parallel), or in any other suitable order byand/or using one or more instances of the systems, elements, and/orentities described herein.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the examples of the invention without departing from thescope of this invention defined in the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. 1. An aircraft propulsion unit, comprising:an electric motor; at least one accessory unit used for operating theelectric motor; an inverter module, the inverter module including aplurality of inverters for powering the electric motor and the at leastone accessory unit, the inverter module including an inverter modulehousing having a first region and a second region that is separated fromthe first region, the first region and the second region includingredundant inverters; and a cooling system coupled to the electric motorand the inverter module, the cooling system comprising a coolant pathfor circulating a coolant through or adjacent to the electric motor andthe inverter module.
 2. The aircraft propulsion unit of claim 1, in theinverter module is at least partly nested in the electric motor.
 3. Theaircraft propulsion unit of claim 1, wherein the inverter modulecomprises one or more cold plates for transferring heat from theplurality of inverters to the coolant in the coolant path.
 4. Theaircraft propulsion unit of claim 1, wherein the at least one accessoryunit comprises a pump for circulating the coolant through the coolantpath.
 5. The aircraft propulsion unit of claim 4, wherein the coolingsystem includes a radiator and the pump includes a fan for blowing airthrough the radiator.
 6. The aircraft propulsion unit of claim 1,wherein the at least one accessory unit comprises a tilt mechanism fortilting the aircraft propulsion unit between a vertical flightconfiguration and a horizontal flight configuration.
 7. The aircraftpropulsion unit of claim 6 wherein the cooling system includes aradiator, airflow through the radiator being greater in use when theaircraft propulsion unit is in the vertical flight configuration thanwhen the aircraft propulsion unit is in the horizontal flightconfiguration.
 8. The aircraft propulsion unit of claim 1, wherein theat least one accessory unit comprises a blade pitching mechanism toadjust the pitch of a rotor blade.
 9. The aircraft propulsion unit ofclaim 1, wherein the inverter module housing includes cooling fins fortransferring heat from the inverter module.
 10. The aircraft propulsionunit of claim 1, wherein the first and second regions are separated by afirewall.
 11. The aircraft propulsion unit of claim 1, wherein the motorcomprises a stator and a rotor arranged around an axis of rotation ofthe motor, the inverter module being located inward of the stator andthe rotor, wherein the inverter module comprises a plurality of circuitboards, the plurality of circuit boards being in a stacked configurationperpendicular to the axis of rotation of the motor.
 12. An aircraft,comprising: a fuselage; one or more thrust-generating units; and one ormore propulsion units for driving the thrust-generating units, eachpropulsion unit comprising: an electric motor; at least one accessoryunit used for operating the electric motor; an inverter module, theinverter module including a plurality of inverters for powering theelectric motor and the at least one accessory unit, the inverter moduleincluding an inverter module housing having a first region and a secondregion that is separated from the first region, the first region and thesecond region including redundant inverters; and a cooling systemcoupled to the electric motor and the inverter module, the coolingsystem comprising a coolant path for circulating a coolant through oradjacent to the electric motor and the inverter module.
 13. The aircraftof claim 12, wherein the inverter module is at least partly nested inthe electric motor.
 14. The aircraft of claim 12, wherein the at leastone accessory unit comprise a tilt mechanism. for tilting the aircraftpropulsion unit between a vertical flight configuration and a horizontalflight configuration and the cooling system includes a radiator, airflowthrough the radiator being greater in use when the aircraft propulsionunit is in the vertical flight configuration than when the aircraftpropulsion unit is in the horizontal flight configuration.
 15. Theaircraft of claim 12, wherein the at least one accessory unit comprise atilt mechanism. for tilting the aircraft propulsion unit between avertical flight configuration and a horizontal flight configuration anda blade pitching mechanism to adjust the pitch of a rotor blade.
 16. Theaircraft of claim 12, wherein the first and second regions are separatedby a firewall.
 17. The aircraft of claim 12, wherein the inverter modulecomprises one or more cold plates for transferring heat from theplurality of inverters to the coolant in the coolant path.
 18. Theaircraft of claim 12, wherein the at least one accessory unit comprisesa pump for circulating the coolant through the coolant path.
 19. Theaircraft of claim 12, wherein the inverter module housing includescooling fins for transferring heat from the inverter module.
 20. Theaircraft of claim 12, wherein the motor comprises a stator and a rotorarranged around an axis of rotation of the motor, the inverter modulebeing located inward of the stator and the rotor, wherein the invertermodule comprises a plurality of circuit boards, the plurality of circuitboards being in a stacked configuration perpendicular to the axis ofrotation of the motor.